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Sunday, October 19, 2025

Robots to the Channel, Channel to Robots


By Mason Bright

The numbers do not lie. Print volumes fall each quarter. Managed IT helped but never replaced pages. Water and VoIP filled some gaps. Production print flared, then flattened. Dealers keep diversifying, but the mix still leans 65 percent A3 and A4. Service tails shrink. Technicians age out. Recruiting stalls. The question hangs in every service bay and boardroom: what replaces the copier as the hardware that keeps the channel alive?

CricketsUS exists to answer that question. Our mission fits on a single line: we bring robots to the channel, and the channel to robots.

That means giving copier and IT dealers a bridge into the emerging world of service robotics, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and humanoids that move, learn, and generate recurring service revenue. It also means showing robotic manufacturers how to reach real customers through the field-service networks you already run.

Why Dealers Matter

Copier dealers already manage what robotics OEMs lack: feet on the street, leasing relationships, and service infrastructure. You know how to quote a 36- or 60-month lease, deliver and install hardware, connect it to a network, train users, and run help desks that separate service from dispatch. That workflow, the same one that carried print for forty years—is exactly what the robotics market needs now.

An AMR or humanoid is just another connected device. It needs delivery, installation, networking, firmware updates, and local support. Every dealer already knows that rhythm. The opportunity is not hypothetical. Robots are already delivering parts in auto shops, moving documents in financial offices, and scrubbing floors in property management facilities. One dealership study showed a 30-day ROI moving tires and batteries to service bays. Robots do not take breaks. They do not call in sick. They execute tasks that cost you human minutes and turn them into billable efficiency.

How Crickets Works

CricketsUS was founded by Art Post, Greg Walters, and Kevin Neal, three people who lived through every phase of the copier industry. The organization acts as a coalition, connecting copier and IT dealers with robotic OEMs, financiers, and standards bodies.

Twain, the nonprofit that wrote the driver standard for scanners and MFPs, is a founding partner. Twain’s new working group is building a similar communication layer for robotics, a way to connect software, Ai agents, and physical machines without custom code for each vendor. Standardization will let dealers integrate robots into customer workflows the same way scanning once connected to document management.

Deon, a dealer in South Africa, joined as an early test site. His proof of concept demonstrates how an AMR can combine movement with intelligence. Using an embedded large language model trained on his HR handbook, the robot can guide new employees through onboarding, answer policy questions, and handle routine forms. In one afternoon it becomes an HR assistant; the next morning it delivers supplies. Dealers know multi-function hardware. This is multi-function in motion.

What Dealers Get

  1. A path into robotics without heavy capital risk. Dealers can start small—one demo robot in the showroom, one internal use case moving supplies or greeting visitors. Learn the service loop before offering it to clients.

  2. Access to OEM relationships. CricketsUS is building partnerships with at least eight robot manufacturers by 2026. Members gain introductions, support training, and shared marketing.

  3. Sales and leasing frameworks. The same financial structures used for copiers apply: leases, service agreements, and consumables. Instead of “cost per page,” you sell cost per task or cost per process saved—each linked to measurable ROI.

  4. Training and certification. Through the CORR (Cricket Office Ready Robotics) program, teams learn site assessment, ROI mapping, demo setup, and safety compliance.

  5. Community and influence. Dealers shape the channel standards for robotics instead of waiting for manufacturers to dictate terms.

How Sales Will Evolve

The transition is less about technology and more about mindset. Copier sales became transactional in the 1980s when leasing turned every deal into a monthly payment. True account management faded. Robotics reintroduces solution selling: discovery, workflow analysis, pilot, and expansion. The rep who can ask, “What tasks still cost you time?” will own the future.

Compensation must reflect that. Selling robots means selling process improvement, not a SKU. Success will come from pilots that save customers measurable time and then scale across sites. Dealers who design commissions around efficiency delivered instead of units shipped will grow faster.

Where It Fits

Start where movement matters.

  • Automotive service: deliver tires, batteries, and tools.

  • Healthcare: move trays, samples, and paperwork between departments.

  • Finance and law: run internal mail and records.

  • Property management: cleaning, layout printing, deliveries.

  • Corporate offices: supply runs, HR onboarding, visitor assistance.

Each use case shares a pattern—defined routes, repeatable tasks, and measurable time savings. These are the low-risk entry points for dealers.

What About Compliance and Security

Robots record. Ai retains. That raises real questions in regulated environments. CricketsUS and Twain address this by supporting private Ai deployments—language models hosted on customer infrastructure with strict policy controls. Dealers already managing print security or MPS data can extend those skills to robots. Expect standards mapped to NIST 800-171-3 controls, so you can show auditors that data stays contained and verifiable.

Why Now

Every disruption looks unfamiliar until it becomes routine. Kodak, Blockbuster, and BlackBerry did not fail because their technology broke. They failed because it no longer looked familiar and they hesitated to change. Copier dealers stand at the same inflection point. The market still pays, but the curve bends downward. Robotics bends up.

Your technicians already fix moving parts. Your salespeople already sell recurring service. Your back office already manages leases. The infrastructure is ready. What is missing is motion—machines that move and revenue that follows.

Where We’re Headed

CricketsUS aims to unite 50 forward-thinking dealers and eight robotic OEMs by 2026. Together we will define the U.S. dealer-channel model for service robotics. The first public proof comes at the Tampa event, November 12–13, 2025, where dealers can see AMRs performing supply runs and a humanoid HR assistant guiding a new employee through orientation. This is not concept art. It is working hardware tied to real workflows.

The Invitation

You do not need to bet the company. Start with one bot in your own building. Let it move toner, greet visitors, or carry deliveries from reception to service. Show your team and your customers that your dealership still leads change instead of reacting to it.

The copier once symbolized business productivity. The next symbol rolls quietly down the same hallway. CricketsUS is here to make sure you are the one selling and servicing it.

Robots to the channel. Channel to robots. That is the move.

Mason Bright

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Contact Me

Greg Walters, Incorporated
greg@grwalters.com
262.370.4193